In the drilling and completion industry, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluid is common. The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and alternatively for CO2 sequestration.
When the borehole is to be completed in sections or intervals, a lower completion or isolation assembly is first run into the borehole, and then subsequently an upper completion is run in the borehole and connected to the lower completion, such as by using a wet connector. Commonly the lower completion or isolation assembly is run in on service equipment (running tool, packer setting tool, etc.) deployed on a service tubing string or drillpipe. The service string or drillpipe is not generally deployed with a control line to surface, so the equipment below the running tool has no connection to surface. When intelligent completions systems are deployed in the borehole, the intelligent equipment in the lower completion or isolation string is run-in “blind” and the lower completion is not connected to surface until after the upper completion is connected to the lower completion. Such intelligent completions systems can include fiber optic, hydraulic, and electric connections.
The art would be receptive to improved devices and methods for downhole intelligent completions systems.